Queen Isabella 1908

Editor: This is "Queen Isabella," painted by Picasso in 1908. It’s an oil painting currently housed in the Pushkin Museum. I find its subdued palette of greens and blues creates a somewhat somber, contemplative mood. What strikes you most about this piece? Curator: Ah, Picasso’s "Queen Isabella"! It's so much more than just a portrait. Look at the flattening of space, the way he's broken down form. It's like he's building a visual puzzle right before our eyes. The color is all of a mood. Did you notice that, for instance, her elbow is like a mountain? Or her arm makes one leg of a saw horse, to be used, in an abstracted woodshop? Editor: I hadn't considered the spatial flattening to that extent! I was more focused on the figure and the, albeit simplified, rendering of Isabella. You’re suggesting there’s more to it than a simple representation? Curator: Exactly! It’s almost like Picasso's deconstructing her very essence. Instead of trying to paint *what* she looks like, he is reaching toward *who* she is. We are watching as she’s distilled down to component pieces of thought. Isn’t that where we live anyway, more so than in the everyday and external world? It’s a brave step towards modernism, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Definitely, especially when you phrase it like that! I guess I was stuck on trying to see the 'queen' in it, instead of appreciating the innovative way he approached form and identity. Curator: That's the magic, isn't it? Art history's all about changing our perceptions! The 'Queen' is maybe not a title here, or a visual, or history… but, instead, perhaps a condition of feeling, like a chess game or some great turn in love! Editor: Thanks, that really gives me a new perspective. I'll definitely look at Picasso’s works a little differently now.